Power actuator for packing door of refuse truck

ABSTRACT

A special packing door arrangement for a refuse dump truck which adapts the packing door for power movement to a clearance position so that the door will not interfere with the dumping operation of the dump truck while the latter is dumping its contents into a larger truck. The packing door mechanism is especially adapted for refuse dump trucks arranged to provide small pickup trucks for collecting the refuse at its source and then dumping their contents in a large refuse truck which hauls it to its ultimate destination.

United States Patent Ronald W. Nickel 604 Glenview Ave., Oconomowoc, Wis. 53066 [21] Appl. No. 810,103

[22] Filed Mar. 25, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 12,1971

Division of Ser. No. 552,765, May 25, 1966, Pat. No. 3,447, 700.

[ 72] inventor [54] POWER ACTUATOR FOR PACKING DOOR OF REFUSE TRUCK 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] 0.8. CI 214/503 [51] lnt.Cl B60p 1/16 [50] FieldofSearch 214/83.3,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,648,452 8/1953 Gibson et a1 2l4/83.3X

2,748,964 6/1956 Murphy 2l4/83.3X

2,826,318 3/1958 Beasley 2l4/83.3

3,280,994 10/1966 Herpich et al. 2l4/83.3 FOREIGN PATENTS 707,317 4/1954 Great Britain 214/503 Primary Examiner-Albert J. Makay Attorney-Cyril M. Hajewski ABSTRACT: A special packing door arrangement for a refuse dump truck which adapts the packing door for power movement to a clearance position so that the door will not interfere with the dumping operation of the dump truck while the latter is dumping its contents into a larger truck. The packing door mechanism is especially adapted for refuse dump trucks arranged to provide small pickup trucks for collecting the refuse at its source and then dumping their contents in a large refuse truck which hauls it to its ultimate destination.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It frequently occurs where refuse must be hauled a long distance that a small truck must be used to pick up the refuse at its source. Such situation exists when collecting refuse from individual residences or small commercial establishments. Thus, the maximum load'permitted'on streets in such areas maybe strictly limited so that the size of the truck is limited accordingly. Moreover, it is inconvenient and uneconomical to employ a large refuse truck for making'the small individual collections of refuse. On the other hand, it is uneconomical to drive the small pickup truck with a light load of refuse to the discharge point when its ultimate destination is a substantial distance from the pickup area.

A solution to this problem has been the provision of relatively small dump trucks for making the individual collections of refuse at the source and especially adapting these small refuse trucks to discharge the refuse contained therein directly into a relatively large truck referred to as the mother truck. With this arrangement a single mother truck can service 7 a number of the small trucks and when filled can make the long trip with a heavy load to deliver its contents to the ultimate destination. v

The present invention relates to theadaptation of these trucks to such systems by providing a packing door which'can be moved completelyout of the way'by power to clear the opening area so that the dumping operation from one truck to the other can be carried outwithoutinterference from the door. This is accomplished without adding an additional power actuator and without adding any complicated linkage.

SUMMARY It is an object of the present invention to provide a refuse truck with an improved power operated packing door that can i be fully retracted against the. exterior surface of the truck body to furnish adequate clearanceduring the dumpingof its contents directly into a large truck;

During a dumping operation into a mother truck the packing door of the refuse trucks must be fully retracted against the exterior of the truck body to provide clearance for the operation. This is accomplished by a hydraulic actuator in the form of a piston and cylinder mechanism operating in coni junction with a novel linkage having an overcenter arrangement. When the piston and cylinde'r'rnechanism is energized fully in one direction, it opens the packing door to a loading position to provide the operator with access to the interior of the truck body for placing refuse therein. When the hydraulic actuator is reversed, the packing door is normally returned 'to its closed positionJ-Iowever, when the door is open to its loading position, if normal pressure is applied to the linkage which connects the hydraulic actuator to the door to shift the linkage past the central position, the reverse operation of the hydraulic actuator willnot return the door to its closed position, but instead, will shift it in the opposite direction to the dumping position against the exteriorsurface of the truck body where the door will not interfere with the dumpingof the contents into the mother truck.. v

- DESCRIPTION or THE DRAWING The foregoing and other objects of this invention which will FIG. 2 is the same view as FlG. l but the packing door is shown full retracted to its dumping position to provide clearance for dumping the contents of the truck into the become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof may be achieved bythe apparatus herein described byway of example in connection with the illustration of its structural components in the'ac'corn panying drawings, in which:

FIG. .1 isajview in side elevation illustrating a refuse truck,

incorporating-the features of the-presentinvention with the mother truck;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the truck illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 except that the packing door is depicted in its closed positions;

FIG. 4 is another side elevational view of the truck shown in FIG. 1 but with the truck body raised to its dumping position and shown dumping its contents into a mother truck; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the coupling member shown on the truck in FIG. 1.

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 2 which illustrates a small pickup truck generally identified by the reference'numeral 10 positioned relative to its larger mother truck which is generally identified by the reference numeral 15, with only the rear end of the mother truck 15 being depicted in the drawing. The small pickup truck is especially adapted to travel into residential areas and move into the locations where relatively small quantities of refuse are collected. The relatively small pickup truck 10 is also especially adapted to dump its load of refuse into the larger mother truck 15 which will deliver it to its ultimate destination. This arrangement provides a small refuse truck for convenient collection of light loads of refuse and yet avoids the necessity of the relatively small pickup truck hauling the refuse over long distances to deliver the refuse to its ultimate destination. It results in much more economical operation while providing superior service.

The pickup truck 10 comprises a conventional frame 16 and cab 17 with the frame 16 being supported on a rear axle 18 by a spring suspension 20. A body 25 is mounted on the frame 16 and is especially adapted for carrying'refuse. To this end, it is fully enclosed and is carried on the frame 16 by a pair of spaced pivot pins 21 for pivotal movement between the horizontal loading position illustrated in FIG. I and a substantially vertical position for dumping its contents in the manner depicted in FIG. 4. As best seen in FIG. 5, each of the two side beams of the frame 16 are provided with upwardly curved rear ends 22. The rearmost extremity of each of these curved ends 22 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 27'for receivinga pivot plate 28 that is secured to the body 25. Bothend portions 22 and their associated plates 28 are provided with suita ble holes for receiving the pin 21 to pivotably support the body 25 for pivotal movement relative to the frame 16'. In FIG. 5, the pivotal connection between the left side beam of the frame 16 and the body 25 is shown in detail. The identical structure is provided on the right beam of the frame l6'fur' pivotably supporting the body 25 on both sides. 7

A hydraulic piston andcylirider mechanism 30 is mounted underneath the truck for actuating the body'25 iriits pivotal which actuates a valve 34 for controlling the newer hydraulic pressure into the cylinder 31. Movement of the handle 33' to v the left, as viewed in FIG. 3, will direct hydraulic pressure into the cylinder 31 for raising the body 25 to its dump ng position shown in FIG. 4. 0n the other hand, movement ofthe handle 33 in a rightward direction as viewed in FIG. 3, will direct hydraulic pressure into the cylinder 31 for lowering-me body 25 to itsloadin'g position as illustrated in FIG. 1i The'regula'ting handle 33 is shown in its neutral position in FIGI'3.

The body 25 is completely enclosed except for area open ing 37 which may be closed by a packing door3 5. A" floor plate 40-of the body 25 has its rear end 41 curved upwardly about a radius that complements the curved ends 22hr the frame 16'sothat the rear end 41 of the body 25 will nest into the curved upper surface of the two side beams of the frame 16.

The upwardly curved rear end 41 of the body 25 served the very important function of retaining liquids within the interior of the body 25. Some of the refuse that is collected may have liquids in it which have an unpleasant odor, and it is important that they be preventeo rom escaping out of the truck. It has been the practice to provide sealed doors for retaining these liquids but such seals are subject to malfunctioning and require frequent maintenance. The upwardly curved portion of the body 25 retains the liquids within the dump body 25 without the necessity of such seals and from the following description it will be apparent that despite the upwardly curved rear end of the truck body 25 it causes the liquids to be conveniently discharged from within the interior of the body 25 when the load is dumped.

The pivot plates 28 are mounted at the upper portion of the upwardly curved rear end 41 so that when the body 25 is raised to the dumping position illustrated in FIG. 4, the upper edge of the curved rear end 41 is moved downwardly while the remaining portion of the curved end 41 is pivoted upwardly with the body 25. With this arrangement, and the curved surface at the rear end of the floor 40, the liquids readily flow from the curved rear end 41 through the rear opening 37 in the body 25 so that any liquid in the truck body 25 is readily discharged therefrom.

As previously mentioned, the pickup truck is especially adapted to dump its contents into a relatively larger mother truck so that the delivery of the refuse to its ultimate destination may be carried out by the larger vehicle. In order to insure complete transfer of the contents of the small truck into the mother truck without any escape of the refuse during the transfer operation, the small pickup truck 10 and the mother truck 15 are coupled to each other during the dump ing of contents of the small truck into the mother truck. Such coupling is accomplished automatically by the elevating of the body 25 of the pickup truck 10 toward its dumping position. To this end, the dump body 25 is provided with a semicylindrical coupling bar 45 which extends across the width of the body 25 at its rearmost end for engagement with an upper edge 46 of a tail plate 47 provided on the mother truck 15. The upper edge 46 defines the bottom of a loading opening 48 provided in the body of the mother truck 15. It will be noted from the views in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the semicylindrical coupling bar is at the uppermost end of the curved portion 41 of the body 25 so that it also comprises the rearmost end of the truck. Moreover, the coupling bar 45 extends across the width of the truck with its axis in a substantially horizontal position directly above the horizontal pivot pins 21 about which the dump body 25 pivots in its dumping operation. Accordingly, as the dump body 25 is pivoted upwardly from the horizontal loading position illustrated in FIG. 2 to the substantially vertical dumping position illustrated in FIG. 4, the cylindrical bar 45 will pivot with the truck body 25 approximately 90. Since the pivot pins 21 are located beneath the coupling bar 45, the latter will move downwardly in an arcuate path as the dump body 25 is raised so that the coupling bar 45 moves into engagement with the upper edge 46 of the tail plate 47 on the mother truck 15. The pivot pins 21 are normally located slightly below the upper edge 46 of the tail plate 47 so that as the coupling bar 45 moves downwardly in its arcuate movement with the pivotal movement of the dump body 25, it engages the upper edge 46, and as the elevation of the dump body 25 continues, a downward pressure is applied upon the tail plate 47. Since the entire frame 16 is mounted on the spring suspension 20, the frame 16 yields to this pressure and rises to accommodate it. Of course, the frame of the mother truck 15 likewise is mounted on a spring suspension so that it too may yield to such pressure. As a result, a very secure coupling engagement is achieved between the pickup truck 10 and the mother truck 15. Although strong forces may exist tending to separate the trucks, they remain coupled together during the dumping operation so that there is very little possibility of the escape of refuse during its transfer from the pickup truck 10 to the mother truck 15.

In operation, when it is desired to transfer a load from the pickup truck 10 to the mother truck 15, the pickup truck 10 is backed toward the mother truck 15 so that the rear ends of both trucks are in immediate proximity to each other and in substantial alignment. Any minor misalignments will be readily accommodated by reason of the spring mounting of both truck bodies which will enable them to yield a limited amount to the various forces which may be applied. After the two trucks are positioned back to back, the regulating handle 33 of the pickup truck 10 is shifted to direct hydraulic pressure into the cylinder 31 for raising the dump body 25. As the body 25 raises, the coupling bar 45 moves downwardly in its arcuate path, as previously mentioned, and engages the upper edge 46 of the mother truck 15 to couple the two trucks together. As the dump body 45 continues to be raised, the coupling engagement between the coupling bar 45 and the upper edge 46 of the mother truck 15 becomes progressively more secure and the frame 16 of the pickup truck 10 raises to accommodate the pressures applied to the tail plate 47 of the mother truck 15. When the dump body 25 is in its fully raised position as depicted in FIG. 4, its opening 37 is actually past the opening 48 and within the body of the mother truck 15 as shown in FIG. 4 so that there is very little, if any, possibility of the refuse 49 escaping during the transfer operation. When the transfer has been completed, the regulating handle 33 is again shifted to direct hydraulic pressure into the cylinder 31 for lowering the dump body 25 to its horizontal loading position. As the dump body lowers, the coupling bar 45 is moved upwardly in its arcuate path to gradually release the upper edge 46. By the tiine the dump body 25 arrives at its lowermost loading position, the coupling member 45 has completely released the upper edge 46 of the tail plate 47 so that the two trucks are automatically uncoupled and each may proceed independently of the other. The mother truck 15 is a conventional rear loading refuse truck that is used extensively for collecting refuse and hauling it to a particular destination.

The packing door 35 is supported by the body 25 for pivotal movement with the rotation of a pair of stub shafts 52 one of which extends from each side of the door 35 and is journaled in the associated side of the truck body 25. Thus, one stub shaft 52 is journaled in one side of the truck body 25 and the other stub shaft 52 is journaled in the opposite side of the truck body 25 with the two stub shafts 52 being in axial align ment. One of the stub shafts 52 is secured to one edge of the packing door 35 while the other stub shaft 52 is secured to the opposite edge of the same packing door 35. As a result, the packing door 35 is carried by the body 25 for pivotal movement about the axis of the two stub shafts 52.

The packing door 35 is actuated in its pivotal movement by a pair of piston and cylinder mechanisms generally identified by the reference numeral 55. The two piston and cylinder mechanisms 55 are identical and each comprises a cylinder 56 which slidably encloses a piston (not shown) to which a connecting rod 57 is secured and extending outwardly of the cylinder 56. The extending end of each connecting rod 57 is pivotably secured by a pin 58 to a;link 59, the opposite end of the link 59 being keyed to one of the stub shafts 52.

Two links 59 are provided with each being keyed to one of the two stub shafts 52 and each link being connected to one of the piston and cylinder mechanisms 55 for actuation thereby. One piston and cylinder mechanism is disposed on one side of the door 35 and the other is located on the opposite side. The end of each cylinder 56 which is opposite to the end from which its associated connecting rod 57 extends is pivotably secured to the top of the dump body 25 by a pin 60 so that the cylinder 56 is free to pivot in a vertical plane along the side of the body 25.

The packing door 35 serves the double function of closing the opening 37 as well as to pack the refuse that is dumped through the opening 37 into the interior of the body 25 and to compress the refuse within the body. The door 35 is shown in FIG. '1 in its normal open position to clear .theopening 37 for loading refuse into the truck. When the refuse accumulates in the vicinity of the opening 37 it is only necessary for the operator to shift a regulating handle 65 to actuate a cooperating valve 66 for directing hydraulic pressure into both cylinders 56 to force the connecting rods 57 outwardly and thereby pivot the links 59 in a c ockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 for pivoting the door 35 downwardly into the interior of the body 25 to its packing position for closing the opening 37 and for forcing the refuse that is dumped therein into the forward portion of the dump body 25. As the body 25 fills with refuse, the actuation of the door 35 in this manner serves to compress the refuse to increasethe capacity of the truck. 'In FIG. 1, as previously mentioned, the door 35- is shown in itsnormal open position to render the opening 37 accessible to the operator for loading refuse into the truck. When the door 35 is pivoted downwardly to the position represented by the broken lines in FIG. 1, the opening 37 is closed to prevent the escape of the contents of the body 25. However, the connecting rod 57 may be forced outwardly to a greater extent to pivot the door 35 into the truck beyond the position represented by the broken lines in FIG. 1 to force the refuse into the interior of the body 25 and compress it. I

The opening 37 of the body 25,'of course, must be open when the contents are being dumped into the mother truck 15. However, when the packing door 35 is in the open position i]- -lustrated in FIG. 1, it interferes with the upward movement of the dump body 25 when the pickup truck is coupled to the mother truck 15. During the raising of the dump body 25 if the packing door 35 were allowed to remain in the position shown in FIG. 1 during the raising of the dump body 25, it would strike the body of the mother truck 15. It is therefore necessary to pivot the packing door 35 in' a counterclockwise direction from the position illustrated in FIG. 1 to a clearance downwardly to its closed position into the interior of the dump body 25. However, the'same extension of the connecting rod 57 may also produce a pivotal movementof the packing door 35 in the opposite direction to the clearance position. shown in FIG. 2. This is accomplished by merely forcing the pins 58 and their associated mechanisms downwardly from the position i1- lustrated by solid lines in FIG. 1 to'a point beneath the center as represented by thebroken linesinjFIG. 1-. The'pins 58 are shown located above the central position in FIG. 1 and then will normally remain in this position, due to the weight of the door 35, to actuate the packing door 35 downwardly from the position shown in FIG. I in response to extension of the connecting rods 57. However, there is sufficient play in the various connections and the connecting rods 57 may be forced further into the cylinders 56 so that if the operator will grasp either one of the cylinders 56 or a link 59 and force it downwardly or push the door 35 upwardly in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIG. 1, the pins 58 will move downwardly beneath the central position to the position represented by the brokenlines in FIG. 1.

Theoperator need apply the downward force to only one of the links 59 and the other will move with it by reason of their connection to eachother through the'two stub shafts 52 and the door 35.Both pins 58 will shift to a location beneath the door 35 is in engagement with the upper surface of the dump clearance is provided with respect to the body of the mother truck so that the dump body 25 of the pickup truck. 10 is free to be raised to its dumping position as illustrated'in FIG. 4.

After the dumping operation has been completed, the packing door 35 may be returned from its clearance position to its normally open position illustrated in FIG. I by directing hydraulic pressure into the cylinders 56 for retracting the connecting rods 57 into the cylinders. When the connecting rods 57 are fully retracted, the pins '58 will be raised to the above center position by the weight'of the door 35 acting through the links 59. The pins 58 and their associated mechanism will therefore move to the position indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 1 as a result of the retraction of the connecting rods 57 into the cylinders 56, Then, even though the connecting rods 57 are moved in the opposite direction to extend them out of the cylinders 56, the packing door 35 will continueto rotate in the same direction from the position illustrated in FIG. I to the interior of the truck body 25.

Withthis arrangement, reasonable size piston and cylinder mechanisms may be employed for obtaining a complete pivotal positioning of the packing door 35 from a position well within the interior of the truck body 25 to a position wherein the door 35 rests upon thetop exterior surface of the truck .body 25. When the packing door 35 is in the packing position represented by the broken lines in FIG. 1 to close the opening 37, the opening may be opened for loading by retracting the connecting rods 57 into the cylinders 56 to move the-packing door 35 to its normally open position depicted by the solid lines in FIG. 1. When the connecting rods 57 are fully retracted, further pivotal movement of the packing door 35 in the same counterclockwise direction-to its clearance position illustrated in FIG. 2 can be obtained by reversing the operation of the piston and cylinder mechanisms 55, if the pins 58 and their associated mechanisms are forced downwardly below the center position before the connecting rods 57 are extended from the cylinders 56 To reversethe operation, a similar procedure is completed. The packing door '35 -will be moved in a clockwise direction from the'clearance position shown in FIG. 2 be retracting the connecting rods 57 into the cylinders 56 to pivot the door 35 from its clearance position to its normally open position shown by the solid lines in FIG. I. Then, when the connecting rods 57 are fully retracted, the weight of the door 35 will force the pins 58 and their associated mechanisms above the central position as illustrated by solid lines in FIG. 1 and then, reverse operation of the piston and cylinder mechanisms 55 to extend the connecting rods 57 will continue the pivotal movement of the packing door 35 in the same clockwise direction toits packing position in the interior of the dump body 25.

For the foregoing detailed description of the present invention, it will be readily understood that an I improved mechanism has been provided for power operation of a packing door on refuse trucks. The operatingmechanismincludes a unique linkage arrangement whereby= the normal piston and cylinder mechanism will actuate the 'door toa retracted position against the surface of the truckwbody whenfrom-the opening;'a power actuator connected to saiddoor in the interior of said body for packing the refuse therein; and body 25. When the packing door 35 is thus located, sufiicient a link having one end connected to said door andits opposite I end pivotally connected to said power actuator for pivotal power actuator being normally disposed on one side of a center position when said door is in its normally open position so that forward actuation of said power actuator will move said door from its normal open position to be closed position, said connection between said link and power actuator being shiftable to a position on the opposite side of the center position so that forward ac uation of said power actuator will then continue movement of said door from its normally open position into a clearance position away from the opening in said body to provide clearance for maneuvering said body in a dumping operation.

2. A refuse truck according to claim 1; wherein the weight of said door urges the connection of said link with said power actuator to said normal position on one side of the center position, and said connection is shifted to the opposite side of the center position by overcoming the force applied by the weight of the door.

3. A refuse truck according to claim 1; in which said body includes a roof and wherein said power actuator comprises a piston and cylinder mechanism having a connecting rod extending axially from one end of the cylinder and slidable axially into and out of the cylinder in response to hydraulic pressure directed into the cylinder; cylinder connecting means pivotally connecting the end of the cylinder opposite said connecting rod to said roof; and link connecting means pivotally connecting the extending end of said connecting rod to said link, said link connecting means being positionable to either side of a center position for reversing the direction of movement of said door in response to the extension of said connecting rod out of said cylinder.

4. A refuse truck according to claim 1 including a roof covering the top of said body; and wherein the opening in said body is at the rear end; and said door is resting upon said roof when said door is in its clearance position. 

1. In a refuse dump truck for collecting refuse and hauling it to a destination; an enclosed body having an opening through which the refuse is loaded into and discharged from the body; a packing door carried by said body for movement in a forward direction for closing the opening and packing the refuse into said body and for movement in a reverse direction away from the opening; a power actuator connected to said door and normally operable through its full range of forward operation for moving said door forwardly from a normally open loading position away from the opening to a packing position in the interior of said body for packing the refuse therein; and a link having one end connected to said door and its opposite end pivotally connected to said power actuator for pivotal movement relative thereto, the connection of said link to said power actuator being normally disposed on one side of a center position when said door is in its normally open position so that forward actuation of said power actuator will move said door from its normal open position to be closed position, said connection between said link and power actuator being shiftable to a position on the opposite side of the center position so that forward actuation of said power actuator will then continue movement of said door from its normally open position into a clearance position away from the opening in said body to provide clearance for maneuvering said body in a dumping operation.
 2. A refuse truck according to claim 1; wherein the weight of said door urges the connection of said link with said power actuator to said normal position on one side of the center position, and said connection is shifted to the opposite side of the center position by overcoming the force applied by the weight of the door.
 3. A refuse truck according to claim 1; in which said body includes a roof and wherein said power actuator comprises a piston and cylinder mechanism having a connecting rod extending axially from one end of the cylinder and slidable axially into and out of the cylinder in response to hydraulic pressure directed into the cylinder; cylinder connecting means pivotally connecting the end of the cylinder opposite said cOnnecting rod to said roof; and link connecting means pivotally connecting the extending end of said connecting rod to said link, said link connecting means being positionable to either side of a center position for reversing the direction of movement of said door in response to the extension of said connecting rod out of said cylinder.
 4. A refuse truck according to claim 1 including a roof covering the top of said body; and wherein the opening in said body is at the rear end; and said door is resting upon said roof when said door is in its clearance position. 